The Vatican Information Service is a news service, founded in the Holy See Press Office, that provides information about the Magisterium and the pastoral activities of the Holy Father and the Roman Curia...[+]

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Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Vatican City, 26 March 2014 (VIS) –
“The Sacraments of the Holy Orders and Matrimony, two specific
vocations and two great paths to the Lord” were the theme of the
Holy Father's catechesis during today's general audience in St.
Peter's Square. “The ministers who are chosen and consecrated for
this service prolong Jesus' presence over time, and they do so with
the power of the Holy Spirit in the name of God, and with love”.

“Those who are ordained are placed at
the head of the community. Yes, they are at the 'head', but for Jesus
this means placing their authority at the service of the community. …
'whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant and
whoever wants to be first must be your slave'. … A bishop who does
not serve his community does not do good; a priest or a curate who
does not place himself at the service of his community does not do
good, he is mistaken”.

Pope Francis emphasised that
“impassioned love for the Church” is a characteristic that always
derives from this sacramental union with Christ. “The bishop, the
priest, love the Church in their own community, they love the Church
greatly. How? How Christ loves His Church. … The spouse loves his
wife as Christ loves His Church. ... The priesthood and matrimony are
two Sacraments that represent the path by which people habitually
reach the Lord”.

Finally, the Pope cited the words of
St. Paul to Timothy when he advised him not to neglect, but rather
always to revive the gift given to him. “When the ministry is not
nurtured by prayer, by listening to the Word of God, with the daily
celebration of the Eucharist, and also with regular confession, the
authentic sense of one's own service is inevitably lost from view,
along with the joy that comes from profound communion with Jesus. …
The priest who does not do these things loses, over time, his union
with Jesus and becomes mediocre, which is not good for the Church.
Therefore, we must help bishops and priests to pray, to listen to the
Word of God that is our daily bread, to celebrate the Eucharist every
day and to confess regularly”.

“Access to the priesthood cannot be
sold. This is an initiative the Lord takes. The Lord calls”, he
added, and concluded by encouraging the young who hear this call to
“cherish this invitation and pray so that it might grow and bear
fruit in all the Church”.

Vatican City, 26 March 2014 (VIS) –
We publish below the full text of the telegram sent by Cardinal
Secretary of State Pietro Parolin, on behalf of the Holy Father, to
Bishop Jesus Garcia Burillo of Avila, Spain, on the occasion of the
funeral of Adolfo Suarez, prime minister of Spain from 1976 to 1981,
who died on 23 March at the age of 81. The funeral was held in the
Cathedral of Avila.

“Profoundly saddened by the news of
the death of Mr. Adolfo Suarez Gonzalez, ex-president of the
government of Spain, His Holiness conveys his most heartfelt
condolences, and raises prayers to the Lord for the eternal repose of
this distinguished figure in recent Spanish history. He imparts to
the family and loved ones of the departed the comfort of his
apostolic blessing, as a sign of Christian hope in the Risen Lord”.

“With reference to the administration
of the diocese of Limburg in Germany, the Congregation for Bishops
has carefully studied the report of the Commission instituted by the
bishop and by the Cathedral Chapter to undertake further
investigations in relation to the responsibility for the construction
of the 'St. Nikolaus' diocesan centre.

Awaiting the diocese of Limburg to
ascertain a situation that impedes the fruitful exercise of his
ministry on the part of Msgr. Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, the Holy
See has accepted the resignation presented by the prelate on 20
October 2013 and has appointed Msgr. Manfred Grothe as apostolic
administrator “sede vacante”.

The former Bishop Tebartz-van Elst will
in due course be assigned a different role.

The Holy Father entreatas the clergy
and faithful of Limburg to accept the decisions of the Holy See with
docility and willingness to rediscover a climate of charity and
reconciliation”.

Vatican City, 26 March 2014 (VIS) –
Yesterday afternoon Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Parolin sent a
message, on behalf of the Holy Father Francis, to the participants in
the eighth Islamic-Christian Prayer Meeting, “Together around Mary,
Our Lady”. The meeting, which took place in Beirut, Lebanon, to
celebrate the Solemnity of the Annunciation, was organised by the St.
Joseph University Alumni Assocation and the College of Our Lady of
Jamhour.

The Holy Father shows his joy at seeing
“Christians and Muslims united in their devotion to the Virgin
Mary”, and comments that “the shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in
Harissa is a blessed place where everyone can go to invoke her”. He
also encourages Christians and Muslims to “work together for peace
and for the common good, thus contributing to the full development of
the person and the edification of society”, and entrusts the
participants in the meeting “and all the inhabitants of Lebanon to
the maternal intercession of the Virgin Mary, Queen of Peace and
Protectress of Lebanon”.

Vatican City, 26 March 2014 (VIS) –
“The Virgin Mary and Islamic-Christian dialogue” was the theme of
the address given by Fr. Miguel Angel Ayuso, secretary of the
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, during the eighth
meeting of the Islamic-Christian Prayer Meeting which took place
yesterday in Beirut, Lebanon, on 25 March, Solemnity of the
Annunciation, which is celebrated by both Christians and Muslims. It
is an important occasion and was declared a national holiday by the
Lebanese government in 2010. In his address, which focused both on
the figure of Mary and on the mission of the Pontifical Council for
Interreligious Dialogue, Fr. Ayuso emphasised that the feast of 25
March was “a true example of the co-existence between Muslims and
Christians that characterises Lebanese history, in the midst of so
many difficulties, and which also constitutes an important example
for many other nations”.

“Since Vatican Council II, the
Catholic Church recognises that Muslims honour the Virgin mother of
Jesus, Mary, and invoke her with piety. … Mary is mentioned various
times in the Koran. Respect for her is so evident that when she is
mentioned in Islam, it is usual to add 'Alayha l-salam' ('Peace be
upon her'). Christians also willingly join in this invocation. I must
also mention those shrines dedicated to Mary which welcome both
Muslims and Christians. In particular, here in Lebanon, how can we
forget the shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa?”

“Devotion creates sentiments of
friendship: it is a phenomenon open to everyone. The cultural
experiences that our communities can share encourage collaboration,
solidarity and mutual recognition as sons and daughters of a single
God, members of the same human family. Therefore, the Church
addresses the followers of Islam with esteem. During the last fifty
years, a dialogue of friendship and mutual respect has been
constructed”.

With reference to the dialogue between
Muslims and Christians, he went on to explain that the Pontifical
Council for Interreligious Dialogue “seeks to establish regular
relationships with Muslim institutions and organisations, with the
aim of promoting mutual understanding and trust, friendship and,
where possible, collaboration. In fact, there exist agreements with
various Muslim institutions enabling the possibility of holding
periodical meetings, in accordance with the programmes and procedures
approved by both parties. With regard to the methods of
interreligious dialogue and, therefore, the dialogue between
Christians and Muslims, we must recall that dialogue is a two-way
form of communication. … It is based on witness of one's own faith
and, at the same time, openness to the religion of the other. It is
not a betrayal of the mission of the Church, and much less a new
method of conversion to Christianity. The document 'Dialogue and
Proclamation', published jointly by the Congregation for the
Evangelisation of Peoples and the Council for Interreligious Dialogue
in 1991, identifies four different forms of interreligious dialogue:
the dialogue of life, the dialogue of works, the dialogue of
theological exchange and the dialogue of religious experience. These
four forms demonstrate that it is not an experience confined to
specialists”.

Fr. Ayuso concluded by analysing the
role of Mary, in the light of the motto of the national holiday in
Lebanon, “Together around Mary, Our Lady”. “In the Apostolic
Exhortation 'Marialis Cultus', promulgated in 1974 by Pope Paul VI,
Mary is presented as 'the Virgin who listens', 'the Virgin who
prays', 'the Virgin in dialogue with God'. … But there is also the
image of a model of dialogue of seeking when, addressing the
Archangel Gabriel, she asks, 'How is it possible?'. Mary, a model for
Muslims and Christians, is also a model of dialogue, teaching us to
believe, not to close ourselves up in certainties, but rather to
remain open and available to others”.

- appointed Bishop Manoel Joao
Francisco of Chapeco, Brazil, as bishop of Cornelio Procopio (area
6,715, population 216,000, Catholics 183,000, priests 38, religious
40), Brazil. He succeeds Bishop Getulio Teixeira Guimaraes, S.V.D.,
whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same diocese, upon
reaching the age limit, was accepted by the Holy Father.

- accepted the resignation from the
pastoral care of the diocese of Limburg, Germany, presented by Bishop
Franz-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of
the Code of Canon Law.

Yesterday, Tuesday 25 March, the Holy
Father appointed Bishop Nunzio Galantino of Cassano all'Jonio as
secretary general of the Italian Episcopal Conference.